Hong Kong shares fall most in nearly six weeks as Sino-US tensions weigh

Hong Kong stocks fell the most in nearly six weeks on Wednesday, as signs of escalating Sino-US tensions weighed on the market sentiment.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 577.72 points, or 2.25pc, at 25,057.94, its biggest fall since June 11. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1.93pc to 10,243.51.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 2.1pc, while the IT sector dipped 4.66pc, the financial sector ended 2.09pc lower and the property sector dipped 2.6pc.

The top gainer on the Hang Seng was China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, which gained 4.52pc, while the biggest loser was AAC Technologies Holdings Inc, which fell 7.02pc.

China said on Wednesday that the United States had abruptly told it to close its consulate in the city of Houston, a move that Beijing said it strongly condemns, threatening retaliation.

China also asked the United States to immediately stop making accusations against it about cyber crimes, in response to the US indictment of two Chinese nationals for hacking COVID-19 data and defence secrets.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States wants to build a global coalition to counter China as he accused Beijing of exploiting the coronavirus pandemic to further its own interests.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.97pc, while Japan's Nikkei index closed down 0.58pc.

The yuan was quoted at 7.0029 per US dollar at 08:21 GMT, 0.32pc weaker than the previous close of 6.9807.

At close, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 33.98pc over Hong Kong-listed H-shares.